Application of Kaizen Lean approach to reduce rejections and failure cost at Shop floor of a wire harness manufacturing

Kaizen is a basic tool of lean manufacturing which is useful for better improvement and cost effectiveness in different organizations. This study describes a sequential method that uses kaizen continuous improvement approach to eliminate the lock release problem of band harness in a Wire Harness Manufacturing unit. Due to releasing of this self-locking type tie band, wire harness was not holding properly against the bracket and wires were not properly tightened which results in high rejection level of the product. Further, it also affects overall quality rating and increasing the rework cost significantly. In present study four problems which are responsible for rejections, are identified through brainstorming. Pareto analysis and rating method are used to know the major problem, responsible for highest rejections and why-why analysis is used to find out the root cause of the identified problem. To eliminate this cause, step by step procedure based on lean manufacturing approach, is applied in the case company. Statistical quality control tools are also used to analyze the problem. This study results in total cost saving of 535.20 $ per annum and beyond this some other tangible or intangible benefits were also observed.